Friday, May 30, 2014

I know how important it is to instill Godly character in our children, but I wasn't exactly sure how to go about doing so. Recently, I was introduced to Little Lads & Ladies of Virtue which is a Preschool and Early Elementary Character Curriculum by Kathie Morrissey from The Character Corner. I was so excited to be chosen to be on the Launch Team to bring this new book to my readers.

I received the 2 digital books that make up this curriculum. There is the actual Little Lads & Ladies of Virtue ebook which sells for $9 and the Copywork ebook which sells for $5. You can purchase the Curriculum and Copywork set for $12.

The main portion of the curriculum is found in the Little Lads & Ladies of Virtue book.

This book contains just about all you need to teach your children. After the introduction, where the author shares the importance of instilling Godly character in our children, you will find the instructions on how to use the book followed by a list of easy-to-find materials that are needed for the object lessons that are found in each chapter. These materials are simple things that most people have around their homes, such as a simple glass half-full of water, blankets, cushions, chairs, construction paper, bean bags, a penny, cotton balls, crackers and candy to name some of them. Looking through the list for all the virtues, I couldn't find one thing that would be difficult for me to obtain or make. The bulk of the book is made up of the lessons you will teach. Each virtue is taught over a 5-day period.

The lessons always follow the same pattern. On Day 1 you will read the definition and the memory verse and have the children repeat them. Then there is always a way to explain the trait in a bit more detail. You end the lesson with the written prayer.

On Day 2 you review the definition and the memory verse, teach the "I Wills" and end in prayer. Then on Day 3 you review the information from the previous days and add in an object lesson, game or role playing. You then end again in prayer.

On Day 4, you also review the memory verse, definition and "I Wills," and then add in some sort of lesson and/or self-evaluation. Day 5 is a review before having the children recite all that they have learned during the week so they can earn their reward ribbon (what we have been calling badges).

Additionally, you will find Coloring Pages for each lesson and the Reward Ribbons plus a "Something to Crow About" chart for the ribbons to be placed on as they are earned. Finally, in the appendix you will find a wonderful list of additional resources.

If you are using the curriculum with preschool children, this book is all you will need. However, if you are including young elementary children you may want to invest in the Little Lads & Ladies of Virtue Copywork book, which is $5.

For each day of the week your child will have some copywork to help reinforce what they are learning.

On Day 1 they will write the definition of the character trait. On Day 2 they will write the memory verse. On Days 3-5 they will write the "I Wills" for that trait.

We have been having a great time learning about and working on these character traits. So far we have worked on "Attentiveness," "Contentment," and "Courage." These traits are taught in alphabetical order and we have just been going down the list; however, I don't see why you couldn't change the order to suit your needs.

Here is a list of the 24 character qualities in the book:

Attentiveness

Contentment

Courage

Deference

Diligence

Faithfulness

Forgiveness

Gratitude

Helpfulness

Humility

Initiative

Joyfulness

Kindness

Love

Loyalty

Obedience

Orderliness

Perseverance

Respect

Responsibility

Self-control

Truthfulness

Virtue

Wisdom

In preparation for using this curriculum, I printed out the "Something to Crow About" Charts and hung them on the wall. Additionally, I wanted to have a nice visual available as we learned each trait, so I created this chart on a piece of poster board.

At the beginning of each week I print out the copywork pages for Tabitha and Amelia plus the coloring sheet for all 4 children. However, I do not print out the lesson. Thankfully, I have a tablet I can read it on, which helps to save on ink.

Before the children wake up on Monday, I put the Character Trait in the top pink rectangle so they can see what we are going to be learning about. I also copy all the information for the chart onto plain white paper cut to size. Later that day we add in the memory verse and definition.

On Tuesday we add the "I Wills."

This chart is kept on our easel in our dining room/school room, so we can see it at all times.

Either on Monday or Tuesday, depending upon what other projects I have lined up for the day, the children will color their coloring sheets.

We talk about the quality throughout the week and really focus on what it means and how to demonstrate the trait in our lives. I'm glad the study started with attentiveness, as lack of attentiveness has been a problem and now I can reinforce it as we go along each week.

The children are so excited when they receive their badges at the end of the week.

I have them practice them with me and then they go to recite them for daddy who approves of their recitation.

These short lessons are perfect for younger children to process the information. I love that we focus on one quality for the entire week as the repetition is also great for retention. The object lessons and games are perfect for the age group the book is geared toward. They are having fun getting up and building forts, tossing bean bags, role playing. In addition to getting up and moving there is time to sit and talk, choosing what would be the correct thing to do. The addition of the copywork is great for the older children, though I do have to say I wish there was a version for younger children with larger lines. The other thing I had a concern about was the amount of ink it takes to print out the Reward Ribbons. I would love to see an option of black and white outline ribbons that the children can color in themselves.

This is a wonderful, affordable curriculum for teaching children Biblical character traits and I would highly recommend it.

I am thrilled to be able to offer you the chance to win a set of the Little Lads & Ladies of Virtue ebooks. The winner of the giveaway will receive both curriculum and the copywork.

All you need to do is enter in the Rafflecopter form below. There are only 2 simple mandatory entries, with the remainder of the entries being optional. Remember, you do not have to do the extra entries, but they will increase your odds of winning.

This giveaway is open to US residents 18 and over.

The giveaway runs May 30 through June 14.

Thanks for stopping by and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclosure: I received the Little Lads & Ladies of Virtue ebook Curriculum and Copywork as a part of the Little Lads and Ladies of Virtue Promotional Team in exchange for my honest review. I received no further compensation. This did not in any way influence my review. I only recommend products I use personally and feel will be a good products for my readers.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

If you use workboxes, tot trays, or anything similar, feel free to post a link to your blog post or a picture (pictures can be from facebook, but please make sure they are PUBLIC so we can see them, or use a host like photobucket.com to get a URL for your photo) that shows WHAT IS IN YOUR BOXES!
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This week I wanted to share some more details about what currently goes in the girls' workboxes each day. Typically, each day's boxes will contain the following:

Workbox 1: Handwriting

Currently their handwriting consists of copywork for the Little Lads & Ladies of Virtue curriculum and...

...our weekly memory verse. This week we are playing catch up so we didn't have a new My Father's World memory verse. We are learning about trees though, so I decided to have them learn a few verses from Psalm 1. When we don't have a student sheet to use for memory copywork, I will write the verse for them and have them copy it into their handwriting notebook.

Workbox 2: 100 Chart

Each day we actually have "lesson time" we have a number of the day they are to write on their 100 chart. We have been using MFW 1st grade for 20 days worth of lessons to date.

Workbox #3: Math

This week the girls' math is coming from the Complete Book of Math that comes with MFW. Fortunately we have the 2 bigger cereal boxes, so each girl can have 1 for bigger books. I will write their assignments on a piece of cardstock that I place in the first page they are to complete.

Last week they also had some math to go with our Poppins Book Nook unit from Martina the Beautiful Cockroach.

Workbox #4: Manipulatives

Recently we have been reviewing several products from Learning Wrap-Ups and I have been placing them in the girls' 4th workbox.

They may get a couple of actual learning wrap-ups, one math and one vocabulary.

I may just put a slip of cardstock in the workbox telling them to work on their Learning Palettes.

The reason they get a slip of cardstock is because the Learning Palettes are too big for the cereal boxes.

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Yesterday, Memorial Day, was a normal day for us. The hubby had worked during the weekend, so of course was sleeping all day (he works nights). There is no way I am taking 4 children to Memorial Day services by myself. So we just had a regular school day as we really didn't have anywhere to go. However, we convinced daddy to have a picnic supper at the park. Believe me, there was no arm-twisting going on.

The crazy faces of Tabitha:

Back to normal

They beg to come to the park all the time to play. Yet, we were there yesterday with all this time for them to play while the food was cooking and they were so impatient for the food we had to keep ordering them to go play!

Welcome to Tots and Me... Growing Up Together, where I share homeschool activities, crafts, recipes, and tips, both of my own creation and those I have found around the web. I also love to share reviews and the occasional giveaway.

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About Me

I am a stay at home mom. I have always wanted to teach, started college with a major in Early Education, but ended up staying home with my son (which turned into staying home with my 2 sons and daughter). Years later ended up with an Associates Degree in Human Services. Which helped me get a director's position at the Montessori I was working at. I am now staying home with my 3 young children. While my older children are off in public school we are homeschooling. I am doing what I always dreamed of doing, teaching!! I feel this is where God has led and willed me to be. I will be here to "Train up [my children] in the way [they] should go: [so] when [they are] old, [they] will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6